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The MovieViews 500 – May Summary

The MovieMuse team has set ourselves the challenge of watching 500 different films between us in 2017. Every new film we watch will be rated and given a short review as part of our MovieViews database. It may almost be the end of June, but we’ve finally got our act together after holidays and other delays so here’s how we got on in May.

Despite those holidays, May was actually our second-best showing in terms of films watched since we started our challenge, and as we approach the half-way point we’re still on target, just about! Simon finally got back on the film-watching horse, although he still logged the lowest number of films watched of the team, while Gordon also returned to form, accounting for over half of the total watched. The quality of films watched also improved compared to last month, with the average score given up by 0.5, thanks in part to us watching a number of classics.

Below are the stats for the month, including each team members’ best and worst picks from the films they watched for the first time. You can also scroll down to see the reviews written by each team member for every film watched in May.

Its USP is the vicious and gratuitous catfights between the female leads, but I am not sure a brutal fight between a pregnant woman and a grieving woman, can ever be funny. No matter how much whimsical music you accompany it with.

Riz Ahmed makes a really interesting and intiguing PI, so it is most disappointing that he is put into such a stereotypical role (terrorism and cricket anyone?). One of the least thrilling thrillers in a long while.

For a film over 80 years old it still stands up as one of the greatest monster movies. The special effects are matched by the wonderful story that must have truly felt like the eighth wonder all those years ago.

A Kickstarter funded traditional British farce set in a dystpoian 1950s Margate. Some of the acting is suspect and the script would better suit the theatre, but the sets and production values are high and the comedy just about hits the mark.

It is the nods to other cinematic superheroes that draw the most laughs and whilst the second half struggles to keep up the jokes per minute pace of the first to concentrate on the action, LEGO Batman is a much more complete offering than The LEGO Movie.

A horror anthology of 4 short films written and directed by women. Unfortunately the four films range from OK to absolutely terrible and are hung together by poor animations of stereotypical horror iconography.

Cumberbatch is engaging and entertaining, and the film has plenty of humour and excitement, but at no point did I really care what was going on. It's little more than a feeder to the next Avengers movie.

Visually spectacular and frequently hilarious, with much of this edition's humour coming from Dave Bautista's Drax. Much like the first one, the story is somewhat lacking but it's still a wildly entertaining popcorn movie.

The concept of a Dragon-inhabited post apocalyptic world is certainly original, and there are undoubtedly some good moments, but overall this film never really reaches the exciting heights that it promises.

An utterly ridiculous concept for a film, and yet this tale of a sentient tyre on a murderous rampage is oddly engaging. David Lynch would be proud of the level of weirdness attained by this 'movie within a movie'.

Over 30 years on, it is showing it's age a little and is incredibly idealistic, but there's no denying the quality of the characters and their interaction with one another. One of the best high school comedies of all time.

A fascinating story about the history of the biggest fast food chain in the world, with a decent performance by Keaton as the despicable Ray Kroc. Unfortunately the attempt to incorporate aspects of Kroc's personal life just detract from the core story.

The gorgeous natural environments make this Pixar's best-looking film to date, and the two main characters are great, but the simplistic plot and odd collection of supporting characters let the film down somewhat.

3

Simon’s Reviews

A good Superhero action film. Ultron as the antagonist is an interesting concept and the story is quite gripping and as with many movies of this type, the action is fast and furious if a little samey. Still an enjoyable blast.

This is a strange concept for a film to me, but one which is quite intriguing, and over zealous acting aside it holds up reasonably well. I was not overly impressed but on reflection it was more complex and enjoyable than I gave it credit for.

A classic buddy cop action flick, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover are both great as the the two cops thrown together to take down the bad guys, any way they can. Great action and characters make this a frenzied watch from start to finish.

The explosive follow up to Lethal Weapon, just as fast and furious and just as much fun to watch. Both Mel Gibson and Danny Glover reprise their roles as the 2 cop buddies, and again the action and excitement is layed on thick in this great sequel.

A slice of 80s nostalgia and I find it a likeable, if somewhat cheesy experience. It is fun though, and the effects if somewhat limited add to the charm of the film. Take it as 80s cheese and you'll enjoy it.